“Accept everything about yourself--I mean everything. You are you and that is the beginning and the end--no apologies, no regrets.” 

~Henry Kissinger 

The Stone Cutter

  There was once a stone cutter 
who was dissatisfied with himself 
and with his position in life. 


One day he passed a wealthy merchant's house. Through the open gateway, he saw 
many fine possessions and important visitors. 
"How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stone cutter. He became very envious and wished that he could be like the merchant. 


To his great surprise, he suddenly became 
the merchant, enjoying more luxuries 
and power than he had ever imagined, 
but envied and detested by those 
less wealthy than himself. 


Soon a high official passed by, 
carried in a sedan chair, 
accompanied by attendants 
and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. 


Everyone, no matter how wealthy, 
had to bow low before the procession. 
"How powerful that official is!" he thought. 
"I wish that I could be a high official!" 


Then he became the high official, 
carried everywhere in his embroidered 
sedan chair, feared and hated 
by the people all around. 
It was a hot summer day, 
so the official felt very uncomfortable
 in the sticky sedan chair. 


He looked up at the sun. 
It shone proudly in the sky, 
unaffected by his presence. 
"How powerful the sun is!" he thought. 
"I wish that I could be the sun!"


Then he became the sun, 
shining fiercely down on everyone, 
scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers 
and laborers. But a huge black cloud 
moved between him and the earth, 
so that his light could no longer shine on everything below. 


"How powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a cloud!", Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. 


But soon he found that he was being 
pushed away by some great force, 
and realized that it was the wind. 


"How powerful it is!" he thought. 
"I wish that I could be the wind!" 
Then he became the wind, 
blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, 
uprooting trees, feared and hated 
by all below him. But after a while, 
he ran up against something 
that would not move, no matter 
how forcefully he blew against it 
- a huge, towering rock. 


"How powerful that rock is!" he thought. 
"I wish that I could be a rock!" 
Then he became the rock, 
more powerful than anything else on earth. 
But as he stood there, he heard the sound 
of a hammer pounding a chisel 
into the hard surface, and felt himself 
being changed. 


"What could be more powerful than I, 
the rock?" he thought., 
He looked down and saw far below him 
the figure of a stone cutter.
~Author Unknown

 

"You are already perfect, only you don't know it. Learn to know yourself and you will discover wonders." ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
 

P.S:
Miracles abound where there is 
unconditional self love self acceptance :)
Namaste,
Bhagya